A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Earnings Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from several earnings. The Markit PMI manufacturing data for January is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while data on existing home sales for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4 points to 19,739.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.25 points to 2,261.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 2.50 points to 5,065.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.05 percent to trade at $55.26 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.17 percent to trade at $52.84 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.54 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.20 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.23 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.15 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.09 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.55 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.22 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.18 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.95 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays downgraded Apple Inc. AAPL from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

Apple shares fell 0.66 percent to $119.29 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Verizon Communications Inc. VZ reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.



• Johnson & JohnsonJNJ announced upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales missed expectations.



• Yahoo! Inc. YHOO reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. Yahoo stated the merger deal with Verizon will be delayed a quarter, but expects it to close in the second quarter in 2017.



• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA posted upbeat revenue for its third quarter and raised its 2017 revenue guidance.